Mariam Khatib, a 15-year-old Syrian refugee in Lebanon, says she has just one wish in life – to be able to go back to school.
“People are nothing without education,” says the shy teenager, who has not been in a classroom since her family fled the southern Syrian province of Daraa three and a half years ago.
“I wish God would grant one wish to me and my siblings – that he opens the door for us to go to school,” she told AFP.
Mariam and her siblings are among more than 250,000 Syrian refugee children in Lebanon who are not in school, according to a report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday, July 19th.
“The high number of refugee children out of school is an immediate crisis,” the New York-based watchdog warned.
“Some have never stepped inside a classroom.”
The problem is particularly acute among children aged 15-18, just 3 per cent of whom were enrolled in Lebanon’s public schools during the 2015-2016 school year, according to HRW.
And the crisis continues despite the efforts of the Lebanese government and international donors to increase enrolment among the more than 1 million Syrians who have taken refuge in the country since the war began in March 2011.
In Qab Elias, in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley, dozens of informal refugee camps are full of children who are getting no education.
“I can’t describe how tough it feels. It’s really hard,” said Mariam’s 18-year-old brother Ismael, who has not been to school since the eighth grade.
“I long to go back to school ... I really miss my friends and the teachers.”
‘Afraid For Their Future’
